Project: Pinocchio
by Dust2Dust17
Summary: It took months of work and millions of Lien, but today, all Colonel James Ironwood cares is if this will bring her back. Part of my one shot challenge: 50-Rebirth


"And we're absolutely sure all preliminary tests have been conducted and finished with satisfactory results?"

"Yes, Colonel. There shouldn't be a problem."

James gave the scientist a questioning look, expecting more out of the doctor he appointed head of this project funded personally by himself. Almost as if he could sense what the young colonel was thinking, the doctor spoke back up adjusting his glasses.

"But, Colonel Ironwood, if I may, I ask you don't get your hopes up. There's a certain chance Project: Pinocchio was a lost cause from the start."

"I've spent too much lien and too much time convincing the Atlesian High General Council that this project will work, Doctor Rojas. For all our sakes, I can't satisfy that request of yours." Ironwood ordered informally.

Rojas adjusted his red-rimmed glasses as the officer walked past him into the lab. What exactly was he trying to accomplish? Even after the accident, there was only so much they could salvage. It was a miracle alone the heart and brain survived. Those were the two key components for this, forgetting any other organs they could harvest for the project. All in all, in the best case scenario, only 14% of the real 'her' would be brought back from this. Ironwood was a smart man. He knew this and the risks involved if the millions of lien that went into this was all for naught. All they could do now was see if they could break the rules of life this one time as he gave a heavy sigh before walking into the lab behind the colonel.

* * *

 _"You're new around here." a voice rang out, bringing the attention of a much younger James Ironwood across the dive bar. Looking at him with bright emerald eyes was a gorgeous looking girl with flowing ginger hair in a white hoodie and grey and green striped shirt underneath._

 _"I've never really been much of a drinker..." he admitted. "I only picked it up after a party gone wild back at Beacon."_

 _"You're a Beacon student?" she asked, walking over so she sat on the stool next to him._

 _"Was. I graduated a couple days ago. I just got back." he answered._

 _"Well then, congratulations are in order!" she smiled, pounding the counter to get the barkeep's attention. "Ricky! Two shots of Cockbite Whiskey for us!" The lime-green haired bartender grumbled something to himself as he complied, pouring and handing them two shot glasses full of the strong alcoholic beverage for the two of them. "To your return home to Atlas!" she said as they clinked glasses and each did a shot._

 _"Wait..." James paused after finishing his shot. "I thought that was for my graduation."_

 _"That's what the second round is for!" she beamed as Ricky came over and poured them each a second shot. "Leave the bottle, Rick." she requested as he left them to their own devices. "Drink up, bud."_

 _"It's James, actually. James Ironwood." he smirked, taking his shot glass._

 _"Patty Polendia." she smiled back, clinking glasses with her new friend before they spent the night drinking and getting to know each other._

* * *

 _"She's...beautiful..." Patty smiled tearily, looking down at the bundle in her arms.  
_

 _"Of course she is." James smiled back, kissing her sweaty forehead. "She takes after her mother after all." he finished, looking down at the swaddled newborn in his wife's arms. Behind them lay a few gifts from their combined friends, including a large pink basket full of baby-care products with an "It's a Girl!" balloon tied onto it dropped off by his old classmate, Summer, when she visited just before Patty was induced into labor._

 _"She still needs a name, you know." Patty said, running a finger gently across the cheek of their daughter, who cooed happily at her mother's touch. "Why not name her after your mother?" she asked._

 _"Maude? That doesn't suit her at all to me." James said, furrowing his brow as he tried to think of a better name. "What about your mother?"_

 _Patty mulled it over before turning to her husband with a smile on her face. "That's a wonderful idea, James. Penny Polendia-Ironwood." she said, liking the ring to it. Penny seemed to enjoy it too, giggling happily as her parents shared another kiss._

* * *

 _"Father! I'm open!" Penny called waving her arms up in the air to signal she wanted him to throw the ball high.  
_

 _"Alright then! Get ready!" James chuckled as he threw the football in a tight spiral towards his fourteen-year old daughter, clapping as she jumped, flipping forwards in mid-air as she caught the ball, cheering lightly for herself as she stuck the landing. "Sensational, Penny! It looks like those gymnastics lessons paid off after all!" he cheered as they met in the middle of their front yard._

 _"Of course they did! My gym coach says at this rate, nobody at Siren Academy could outmaneuver me if they tried." Penny boasted._

 _"Speaking of which, have you decided what weapon you'd like to train with?" James asked. Like Signal in Vale, the school Penny attended was one of the preliminary Huntsmen schools in Atlas, where students would first train in a specific fighting style before constructing their own and going off to a finishing school like Beacon or the more local Siren Academy._

 _"I was thinking of training in swordsmanship, like you used to before..." she trailed off, looking at her father's right arm._

 _"It's alright Penny." James assured her. "With this new one I built, I find it more useful than a sword anyway. I'm still happy with it."_

 _"If you say so." Penny nodded, her warm smile returning. "Now, let's get back to it! No holding back this time!" she encouraged, getting as far back to the front of the yard as she could to the point she was at the border of the sidewalk._

 _"Just be careful!" he called as he got ready to throw the ball to her. With as much as he could muster that wouldn't be overly powerful for her, he chucked the ball towards her. Immediately, she realized even with her vertical jump, it was too high, and began backpedaling towards, not taking her eyes off the ball._

 _"I got it! I got-" she started repeating before a loud horn drew her attention to her left. Bearing down o her was a large moving truck._

 _Everything went into slow motion as Ironwood ran forwards. He drowned out the sounds of the impact, the screeching of the bloodied tires as the driver frantically tried to stop, despite it being too late, the driver's horrified apology as James could do nothing but scoop up his daughter's trembling, broken form into his arms. He finally found his voice as he noticed her eyes start to drift close._

 _"CALL AN AMBULANCE! HURRY!_

* * *

 _It had been days. He had barely moved from the seat next to Penny's hospital bed. Her favorite teddy bear and Get Well cards from family, friends, and Penny's classmates littered the nightstand between them. She hadn't read a single one yet. She hadn't even opened her eyes since the accident. It was a miracle she survived, although she was now completely paralyzed and suffered terrible brain damage that left her breathing through a tube. All James could do was hope she could somehow, some way, pull out of this, show signs of improvement of some sort.  
_

 _A knock on the door drew his attention to a new visitor. "Patty..." he started. He hadn't seen her since she went on that trip to visit her sister in Vacuo. He hadn't even told her. All she could do was look on, horrified at what she saw: her daughter connected to all sorts of medical equipment, her husband distressed and looking like he hadn't slept in days. It was too much to take in. Putting a hand over her mouth, she started to back out back into the hallway. "Patty, wait!" James frantically called, getting up to chase after her before he couldn't. As he did, she turned abruptly to face him, smacking him across the face._

 _"I have been trying to call you for three days, James." she said, her voice shaky and cracking from distress. "I had no idea what was going on. Now I knoe my worries were true! And you didn't even think to say anything to me?!"_

 _"I didn't even know where to begin!" James shouted, breaking down. "Patty, I'm so sorry.." he started going in for a hug, only for her to lean away from his reach. "Penny, what-"_

 _"I...I can't do this anymore, James. I was going to tell you..." Patty started._

 _"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked._

 _"I wasn't visiting my sister... I've been...I've been unhappy for quite a long time. You've been gone so much with your work since you got promoted...Penny was the only thing keeping me close..."_

 _"What are you saying, Patty?"_

 _She said nothing as she reached into her handbag, pulling out a manilla envelope and handing it to him. "...I've...been seeing someone else...I'm sorry, James. I need to go!" she said, breaking down and running off and out of the ICU, leaving a confused and alone James in the hall, half-holding onto the envelope. Upon opening it and reaching in for its contents, his heart shattered as he read the papers._

 _A feint, long beep drew him out of that thought, as well as the sound of nurses rushing into Penny's room. "P-Penny?" he called, dropping the envelope and sprinting to her room. A lone paper that fell loose from the envelope drifted slowly to the floor: a divorce notice, with Patty's signature already stamped on the bottom._

* * *

 _The services were short. Most of the guests had already left. All that remained were James, Ozpin and Glynda, and Qrow as they stood with him in front of two twin gravestones. James only expected to be here today for one fueneral once he came to terms that Penny had lost her battle, passing on from this world to the next. it wasn't until he had been asked to leave the morgue so her body could be prepared by the undertaker that a traffic officer informed him Patty was involved in an accident of her own. She had been hysterical after she left, not focusing on the road as she drifted into the oncoming lane. Both drivers didn't survive the impact._

 _In front of him stood two dark grey monoliths with white lettering. The taller one read "Patty Polendia-Ironwood. Devoted Mother, Loving Wife". The second read "Penny Polendia-Ironwood. Taken Too Soon, Leaving a Bright Future Behind." He could only sit there and look at the stones, a fresh patch of dirt in front of each of them with flowers and wreaths scattered above them._

 _"James..." Ozpin started. "I think it's time we left."_

 _"He's right. The rain's going to start soon..." Qrow noted, looking to the grey sky above them before he was cut off._

 _"Let it come then." he said flatly. "I'll leave when I'm ready to."_

 _"James, neither of them would want you to be moping like this." Glynda spoke up, not expecting the colonel and her former teammate to turn aggressively towards her._

 _"What they wanted? WHAT SHE WANTED?" he snapped. "Not even seconds before Penny flatlined, SHE HANDED ME DIVORCE PAPERS, GLYNDA! I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO KNOW WHAT SHE WANTED!" he shouted angrily._

 _All three were taken aback by this information, as well as his sudden outburst. "Oh Dust, James, I'm so sorry." Glynda apologized._

 _"Look, Jim. You need to calm down now." Qrow ordered. "Throwing a tantrum like this isn't going to bring either of them back."_

 _"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, BRANWEN!" he roared, ripping his right sleeve off as his reteactable sword embedded in his false arm extended, swinging at the startled reaper._

 _A clanging of metal against metal rang out through the threshold. Ozpin's cane stood not budging between Qrow and Ironwood's sword. "James, snap out of it now!" he yelled, pushing him off of his cane and onto his ass against the ground. "That was completely uncalled for!"_

 _He snarled and got back to his feet. "You don't know what I'm going through! None of you! Today, I lost everything I ever cared about. There's no way I can bring it back!" He lunged again at Ozpin, this time being stopped as he suddenly felt weightless, then being slammed against the ground. Glynda kept her crop in place as Ozpin dusted himself off and Qrow lit a cigarette._

 _"James. Please..." Glynda urged as she eased her grip on him with her magic. "You're right. We don't know what you just went through. I don't think we ever will, but attacking us unprovoked isn't going to bring them back."_

 _He said nothing, staring down at the ground on his hands and knees, facing away from the tombstones. For a few moments, nobody said a word, not even moving as the drizzle began to fall. Qrow started off first, Glynda following him as Ozpin simply stared down his old friend._

 _"We'll be around if you need us." he said before walking off, leaving James to his thoughts._

 _"...Bring them back."_

 _Those words echoed in his mind with a burning sensation. He couldn't lose everything. He wouldn't lose everything. He had to make this so, somehow._

* * *

"All systems are ready, sir." a technician stated as the group gathered around the operating table, a sheet draped over the project they spent so much time and money working on.

"Begin when ready." James ordered emotionlessly, not taking his eyes off the sheet, making out the imprint of its features under the covering. With a nod, Rojas walked over to a terminal, the scientist entering a few commands into a keyboard as the tubes running across the floor and up underneath the table suddenly illuminating green.

"Aura transfusion in progress." he announced as a surge ran through each cable. The figure under the sheet jerked slightly, a few machines surrounding them sparking from the power spike. Even the lights above them fluctuated. After what seemed like an eternity, everything stopped. The sound of everyone breathing, or in some cases, holding their breath as they waited for the results, replaced the chaos of everything going haywire. "Transfusion complete." Rojas sighed, a reading appearing on the screen telling him it was a success. Everyone began clapping and shaking hands with one another, congratulating each other for what had been accomplished. James still stood in place, his eyes focused on the sheet.

'Everyone! Quiet!" he ordered as the room grew silent. The only sound was a quiet, shrill groaning from under the sheet. Pulling it back from over her face, James revealed Penny's face, as her eyes slowly opened looking around at her surroundings.

"Where...am...I? Who am...I?" she asked.

James' heart skipped a beat. He was saddened that she didn't recogize him or herself, but was relieved she was back, that Project Pinocchio was a success.

"That's not important now." he said with a smile, the girl looking up at him, confused. "Your name is Penny Polendia, and today, you are reborn."


End file.
